
r r ~ - 



imttumt»*altf? nf HaB»arl|tta?tt0 



AWS 



RELATING TO 



FORESTRY 

AND THE SUPPRESSION OF THE 

Gypsy and Brown Tail 
Moths 



i 




u% (Emmtumttmtlilj of MnamtUnzsttB. 



Laws relating to Forestry 



AND THE 



Suppression of the Gypsy and 
Brown-tail Moths. 



By F. W. Rane, State Forester, 
Room 1009, 6 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 



• 



BOSTON: 

Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 

18 Post Office Square. 

1910. 






Approved by 
The State Board of Publication. 



1 



TO MASSACHUSETTS CITIZENS. 



Realizing the rapidly increasing and en- 
thusiastic interest on the part of the citizens 
of Massachusetts in everything pertaining 
to forestry, and in order to meet the con- 
stantly growing demand for knowledge of 
the laws relating to this important subject, 
the State Forester has compiled in this 
small booklet all the legislative enactments 
up to and including the year 1910. Forestry 
work in Massachusetts is just assuming large 
proportions and the outlook for the future 
is exceedingly bright. To care for our forest 
lands and to reforest the thousands of acres 
now bare and unproductive is the proposed 
work that will bring greater results and add 
more to our wealth than any other effort 
ever made in our State. There is great need 
of co-operation in order to obtain desired 
results. If each town will do its full duty 
in seeing that a thoroughly competent, 



honest and public-spirited forest warden is 
appointed, and then give him due encour- 
agement through financial assistance and 
otherwise, we are sure to make satisfactory 
progress. 

The State Forester's office is headquarters 
for a progressive forestry movement, and 
stands in readiness not only to assist the 
town forest wardens in outlining their work, 
but to answer the inquiries of all Massa- 
chusetts citizens. The State also has made 
provision (1904, chapter 409, section 2) to 
give aid and advice, upon request, to indi- 
viduals having forest lands. The State 
Forester is giving as much time as practi- 
cable to the educational feature, and besides 
is publishing bulletins and other literature, 
as fire laws, etc. He delivers lectures and 
talks before all organizations likely to be 
interested in promoting forestry. 

The State Forester particularly desires to 
call the attention of forest wardens and se- 
lectmen in towns with a valuation of less 
than $1,500,000 to chapter 398, Acts of 1910, 
which allows him to reimburse such towns 
50 per cent, of the cost of forest fire-fighting 
apparatus. 






This book also contains the laws under 
which the work of suppressing the gypsy 
and brown-tail moths is carried on through- 
out the State, and should be studied care- 
fully by all our citizens in order that they 
may become familiar with their duties and 
responsibilities concerning this important 
work. 

F. W. RANE, 
State Forester. 

Room 1009, 6 Beacon Street. Boston, Mass. 



6 



"A tree is one of nature's words, a word of peace to 

man; 
A word that tells of central strength from whence 

all things began; 
A word to preach tranquillity to all our restless clan. 

"Ah, bare must be the shadeless ways, and bleak 

the path must be 
Of him who, having open eyes, has never learned to 

see, 
And so has never learned to love the beauty of a 

tree. 

"Who loves a tree, he loves the life that springs in 

star and clod, 
He loves the love that gilds the clouds, and greens 

the April sod; 
He loves the Wide Beneficence; his soul takes hold 

on God." 



CONTENTS. 



i. 











PAGE 


The State Forester, . . . .11 


Appointment, term, etc., 


11 


Powers, duties, etc., 


12 


May establish and maintain nursery, etc., 


13 


May hire assistants, 


14 


To make annual report, . 


14 


Appropriations, .... 


14 


II. 


Forest Wardens in Cities and Towns, . 15 


Appointment, etc., 




15 


Duties of, etc., 








16 


His deputies, 








16 


Compensation, 








17 


Replace firewards, . 








17 


Not liable for trespass, 








18 


Disturbing notices, 








18 


Forestry conventions, 








18 


Existing forest firewards to act, 




19 


Repeal,. 








19 



III. 

Powers of Forest Wardens in Fighting 
Fires and to call for Assistance, . 
Back fires in woodlands, 



19 
19 



8 



PAGE 



Powers of Forest Wardens, etc. — Con. 

Penalty for refusing aid, . . .20 

Rate of payment, . . . . .20 

Permission to set fires in the open necessary, 20 
Expenditures authorized, . . .21 

IV. 

Fires in the Open Air, . . . .22 

Permit necessary, . . . . .22 

Arrest without warrant, . . . .23 

Burning for moth suppression, . . 23 

Acceptance of permit act by towns, . 23 

Fire balloons prohibited, . . .24 

Close season for game in times of drouth, . 25 

V. 

Exemplary Damages for injuring Timber 

and Special Liability of Railroads, 26 
Treble damages for wilfully cutting, etc., . 26 
Railroads liable for fire, etc., . . .27 



VI. 

Land adjoining Railroads, and Powers and 
Duties of Railroads, 
Spark arresters required, 
Must remove inflammable material, 
May clear adjoining land, 
Railroad fire signal, 
Duties of railroad employees, . 
Duties of corporations, . 
Proviso as to park lands, 
Railroads liable for extinguishment, 



27 
28 
28 
29 
30 
31 
31 
31 
32 



9 



VII. 

PAGE 

Town Appropriations and Public Domain, 32 
Prevention of forest fires, . . .32 

Public domain, taking, etc., . . .33 

Description of land to be filed, etc., . 33 

Board of Agriculture to act, etc., . . 34 

Reimburse towns for cost of fire apparatus, 34 
Permit to pick berries and flowers, . . 35 

VIII. 

Reforestation, . . . . . .37 

State Forester may purchase lands, . . 37 

Owners may repurchase land, . . .38 
State Forester may accept gifts of lands, . 38 

State Forester may distribute seeds and 

seedlings, . . . . . .39 

Certain lands exempt from taxation, . 41 

Plantations exempt from taxation, . . 41 

IX. 

Punishable Offences against Forest Lands, 43 

Setting fires to woodpiles, etc., . . 43 

Setting fires to trees, . . . .43 

Setting fires negligently, . . .44 

Cutting timber, etc., . . . .44 

Malicious injuries to trees, etc., . . 45 

Trespass with intent to destroy, . . 46 

Arrest without warrant, . . . .47 

X. 

Forestry Publications, . . . .48 



10 



XI. 

PAGE 

Gypsy and Brown-tail Moth Law, . . 48 

Gypsy and brown-tail moths declared nui- 
sances, . . . . . .48 

Superintendent, appointment, salary, etc., 49 
Annual report, . . . . .49 

Powers and duties, . . . .50 

Cities and towns to destroy eggs, etc., . 51 
Reimbursements, . . . . .52 

City and towns to be reimbursed, . . 53 

Commonwealth to make expenditures, etc., 53 
Reimbursements, . . . . .53 

Itemized account of expenditures, etc., . 54 
Previous years as basis, . . . .54 

Superintendent to order expenditures, etc., 54 
Penalty failing to comply, . . . ' 55 

Superintendent may continue work, etc., . 56 
Expenditures not to exceed, etc., . . 56 

Cities and towns to notify owners, etc., . 57 
Part of premises may be designated, etc., . 58 
Lands may be assessed, etc., . . .58 

Assessments of betterments, . . .59 

Redemption of real estate, . . .60 

Persons aggrieved may appeal, etc., . 60 

Assessments may be abated, etc., . . 61 

Expenditures, . . . . .62 

Additional sums may be expended, etc., . 62 
Repeal, . . . . . .63 

Penalty for obstructing, etc., . . .63 

Valuation, previous year to govern, . 64 

Abolition of office of superintendent, . 65 

Transportation of injurious insects, . . 66 

Appropriations, . . . . .66 



11 



MASSACHUSETTS FOREST LAWS. 1 



I. 

The State Forester. 
1904, 409, as amended, 1907, 473, sec. 1, 
and 1909, 263. The governor, with the con- 
sent of the council, shall appoint an officer 
to be known as the state forester, and shall 
determine his salary. He shall be a trained 
forester who has had a technical education. 
He shall be ex officio a member of the state 
board of agriculture. He shall act for the 
commonwealth in suppressing the gypsy and 
brown-tail moths as public nuisances. The 
governor may, with the consent of the coun- 
cil, remove the state forester at any time for 

i Laws relative to trees in the highways, streets, parks 
and forests that border into the public thoroughfares are 
not included. While these laws are closely associated 
with and in some in stances become forest laws it has been 
thought best to clearly designate them as the tree warden 
acts. See the so-called " tree warden law," Acts' of 1899, 
chap. 330; R. L., chap. 53, sees. 6 to 16. 



12 



such cause as he shall deem sufficient. In 
case of the death, removal or resignation 
of the state forester the governor shall forth- 
with appoint a successor. The office of 
superintendent for suppressing the gypsy 
and brown-tail moths is hereby abolished. 
All the powers, rights, duties and liabilities 
of the said superintendent are hereby trans- 
ferred to the state forester. No existing 
contracts, proceedings or liabilities shall be 
affected hereby, but the state forester shall 
in all respects and for all purposes be the 
lawful successor of the superintendent for 
suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths. 
1904, 409, sec. 2. It shall be the duty of 
the state forester to promote the perpetua- 
tion, extension and proper management of 
the forest lands of the commonwealth, both 
public and private. He may upon suitable 
request give to any person owning or con- 
trolling forest lands aid or advice in the 
management thereof. He shall give such a 
course of instruction to the students of the 
Massachusetts Agricultural College on the 
art and science of forestry as may be ar- 
ranged for by the trustees 6f the college and 
the forester; and shall perform such other 



13 



duties from time to time as may be imposed 
upon him by the governor and council. The 
state forester shall have the right to publish 
the particulars and results of any examina- 
tion or investigation made by him or his 
assistants as to any lands within the com- 
monwealth, and the advice given to any 
person who has applied for his aid or advice. 
Any recipient of such aid or advice shall be 
liable to the state forester for the necessary 
expenses of travel and subsistence incurred 
by him or his assistants. The state forester 
shall account for moneys received under this 
clause according to the provision of section 
five. 

1904, 409, sec. 3. The state forester may 
establish and maintain a nursery for the 
propagation of forest tree seedlings on such 
lands as the trustees of the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College may set aside for that 
purpose on the college grounds at Amherst. 
Seedlings from this nursery shall be fur- 
nished to the commonwealth without expense 
for use upon reservations set aside for the 
propagation of forest growth for other than 
park purposes. He may distribute seeds 
and seedlings to landowners, citizens of the 



14 



commonwealth, under such conditions and 
restrictions as he may, subject to the ap- 
proval of the governor and council, deem 
advisable. 

1904, 409, see. 4. The state forester is 
hereby empowered, subject to the approval 
of the governor and council, to hire such 
assistants as he may need in the perform- 
ance of his duties, and to fix their salaries. 

1904, 409, sec. 5. The state forester shall 
annually, on or before the thirty-first day of 
December, make a written report to the gen- 
eral court of his proceedings for the year 
ending on the thirty-first day of December, 
together with such recommendations as he 
may deem proper, and with a detailed state- 
ment of the receipts and expenditures in- 
cident to the administration of his office. 
His report shall be printed in the report of 
the state board of agriculture. 

1904, 409, sec. 6, as amended, 1907, 473, 
sec. 2. Such sums as the general court shall 
authorize may be expended annually by the 
state forester, with the approval of the gov- 
ernor and council, in carrying out the pro- 
visions of this act. 



15 



II. 

Forest Wardens in Cities and Towns. 

R. L. 32, sec. 16, as amended, 1907, 475, 
sec. 1. The mayor and aldermen in cities 
and the selectmen in towns shall annually, 
in March or April, appoint a forest warden, 
and they shall forthwith give notice of such 
appointment to the state forester. The ap- 
pointment of a forest warden shall not take 
effect unless approved by the state forester, 
and when so approved notice of the appoint- 
ment shall be given by the mayor and alder- 
men or by the selectmen to the person so 
appointed and approved. Whoever having 
been duly appointed fails within seven days 
after the receipt of such notice to file with 
the city or town clerk his acceptance or re- 
fusal of the office shall, unless excused by 
the mayor and aldermen or by the selectmen, 
forfeit ten dollars. Nothing in this act or 
in any other act shall be construed to pre- 
vent the offices of tree warden, selectman, 
chief of fire department and forest warden 
from being held by the same person. 

1907, 475, sec. 2. The forest warden shall 



16 






take precautions to prevent the spread of 
forest fires and the improper kindling 
thereof, and shall have sole charge of their 
extinguishment. He shall investigate the 
causes and extent of forest fires and the 
injury done thereby, the values of forest 
lands, the character and extent of wood- 
cutting operations, the prevalence of insect 
pests injurious to forest growth, and other 
matters affecting the extent and condition of 
woodlands in his city or town, and shall re- 
port thereon to the state forester at such 
times and in such form as the state forester 
may require. He shall also post in suitable 
places in the city or town such warnings 
against the setting of forest fires and state- 
ments of the law relating thereto as may be 
supplied to him by the state forester. The 
engineers of fire departments in cities and 
in towns in which a fire department exists 
and which have so voted shall perform the 
duties and exercise the powers of forest 
wardens with respect to forest fires. 

R. L. 32, sec. 20, as amended, 1907, 475, 
sec. 3. The forest warden may appoint 
deputies to assist him in the performance 
of his duties and may discharge the same, 



17 



and he or his deputies may, if in their judg- 
ment there is danger from a forest fire, 
employ assistance or require any male per- 
son in their city or town between the ages 
of eighteen and fifty years to aid in its ex- 
tinguishment or prevention, and may require 
the use of horses, wagons and other property 
adapted to that purpose, and shall keep an 
account of the time of all persons assisting 
them and a schedule of all property so 
used. 1 

1907, 475, sec. 4. The state forester shall 
from moneys annually appropriated for the 
expenses of his office recompense the forest 
wardens for the time spent by them in mak- 
ing investigations under his direction accord- 
ing to the provisions of section two of this 
act: provided, that the state forester shall 
not be liable to make any such payment 
except upon the presentation of a duly 
itemized account, or to pay for such investi- 
gations at a rate greater than that of thirty- 
five cents an hour, or in excess of the 
appropriation available for such payment. 

1907, 475. sec. 5. The officials designated 
as " firewards " or " forest firewards," in 

i See further under next division of this pamphlet. 



18 



chapter thirty-two of the Revised Laws shall 
hereafter be called Forest Wardens. 

1907, 475, sec. 6. Forest wardens, their 
deputies and assistants shall not be liable for 
trespass while acting in the reasonable per- 
formance of their duties. 1 

1907, 475, sec. 7. Whoever wilfully and 
maliciously tears down or destroys any 
notice posted under the provisions of sec- 
tion two of this act shall be punished by a 
fine of ten dollars. 

1907, 475, sec. 8. The state forester may 
from moneys appropriated annually for the 
expenses of his office expend a sum not ex- 
ceeding two thousand dollars in making nec- 
essary arrangements for conventions of 
forest wardens and in paying wholly or in 
part the travelling expenses to and from 
their towns of such forest wardens as attend 
this convention: provided, that no moneys 
shall be expended under authority of this 
section in paying the travelling expenses of 
any one warden to or from more than one 
convention in any one year; and provided; 
further, that said conventions shall be held 
at a place within the commonwealth. 

i See]also sections on pages 28 and 31. 



19 



1907, 475, sec. 9. Forest firewards ap- 
pointed under section sixteen of chapter 
thirty-two of the Revised Laws and foresters 
appointed under section fourteen of chapter 
fifty-three of the Revised Laws before the 
passage of this act shall between the time of 
its passage and the expiration of their 
terms of office perform the duties and have 
the powers of a forest warden as herein 
provided. 

1907, 475, sec. 10. Sections seventeen, 
eighteen and twenty-two of chapter thirty- 
two of the Revised Laws, and section four- 
teen of chapter fifty-three of the Revised 
Laws, and all acts and parts of acts incon- 
sistent herewith are hereby repealed. 

III. 

Powers of Forest Wardens in Fighting Fires 
and to call for Assistance. 

R. L. 32, sec. 19, as amended, 1907, 475, 
sec. 5. If a fire occurs in woodland, two or 
more of the forest wardens of the town, or 
of a town containing woodland which is en- 
dangered by such fire, who are present at 
a place in immediate danger of being burned 
over, may set back fires and take all neces- 



20 



sary precautions to prevent the spread of 
the fire. 

R. L. 32, sec. 21. Whoever wilfully re- 
fuses or neglects, without sufficient cause, to 
assist, or to allow the use of his horses, 
wagons or other property as required by the 
preceding section, shall, for each offence, be 
punished by a fine of not less than five nor 
more than one hundred dollars, to be equally 
divided between the complainant and the 
town, and may also be imprisoned for not 
more than sixty days. 

R. L. 32, sec. 23. Payment shall be made 
to forest wardens, to their deputies, and to 
the persons assisting them, and for property 
used under their direction at a forest fire, 
at a rate prescribed by the town, or in de- 
fault of its action thereon, by the selectmen. 
No such payment shall be made until an 
itemized account, approved by the forest 
wardens under whose direction the work was 
done or assistance furnished, shall have been 
filed with the officer making payment. 1 

R. L. 32, sec. 24. In a town which accepts 
the provisions of this section or has accepted 
the corresponding provisions of earlier laws, 

i See also sec. 4 on page 18. 



21 



no fire shall be set in the open air between 
the first day of April and the first day of 
October, unless by the written permission of 
a forest warden. The forest warden shall 
cause public notice to be given of the pro- 
visions of this section, and shall enforce the 
same. Whoever violates the provisions of 
this section shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than one hundred dollars, to be divided 
equally between the complainant and the 
town, or by imprisonment for not more than 
one month, or by both such fine and im- 
prisonment. 

R. L. 32, sec. 25. Money appropriated by 
a town under the provisions of section seven- 
teen of chapter twenty-five, for the preven- 
tion of forest fires, and all fines received 
under the provisions of sections twenty-one, 
twenty-two and twenty-four of this chapter 
and section nine of chapter two hundred 
and eight shall be expended by the forest 
warden, under the supervision of the select- 
men, in trimming brush out of wood roads, 
in preparing and preserving suitable lines 
for back fires or in other ways adapted to 
prevent or check the spread of fire; or such 
town may expend any portion of such 



22 



money in taking in the name of the town 
such woodland as the selectmen, upon the 
recommendation of the forest warden, con- 
sider expedient for the purpose of prevent- 
ing forest fires. Such taking and the 
payment of damages therefor or for injury 
to property, other than by fire or back fire, 
shall be governed by the laws relating to the 
taking of land for highways. 1 

IV. 
Fires in the Open Air. 

1908, 209, sec. 1. In a town which accepts 
the provisions of this act or has accepted a 
corresponding provision of earlier laws no 
fires shall be set in the open air between the 
first day of April and the first day of De- 
cember, except by the written permission of 
the forest warden : provided, that debris 
from fields, gardens and orchards, or leaves 
and brush from yards may be burned on 
ploughed fields by the owners thereof, their 
agents or lessees, but in every case such fire 
shall be at least two hundred feet distant 
from any forest or sprout lands, and shall 
be properly attended until it is extinguished. 

i See also see. 3 on page 16. 



23 



The forest warden shall cause public notice 
to be given of the provisions of this section, 
and shall enforce the same. Whoever vio- 
lates the provisions of this section shall be 
punished by a fine of not more than one hun- 
dred dollars, or by imprisonment for not 
more than one month, or by both such fine 
and imprisonment. 

1908, 209, sec. 2. The provisions of the 
preceding section shall not apply to fires 
which may be set in accordance with regu- 
lations and methods approved by the super- 
intendent for suppressing the gypsy and 
brown-tail moths. 

1908, 209, sec. 3. The state forester shall 
notify every town in the commonwealth of 
the passage of this act by sending at least 
three printed copies thereof to the town 
clerk, who shall post the same in conspicuous 
places. 

1908, 209, sec. 4. The state forester and 
forest warden may arrest without a warrant 
any persons found in the act of setting a fire 
in violation of any provision of this act. 

1908, 209, sec. 5. The selectmen of every 
town shall cause this act to be submitted to 
the voters for their acceptance at the next 



24 



annual meeting of the town after the passage 
of this act. The vote shall be taken by sep- 
arate ballot, and shall be " Yes " or " No " 
in answer to the following question printed 
upon the ballot : " Shall an act passed by the 
general court in the year nineteen hundred 
and eight, entitled ' An Act to provide for 
the protection of forest or sprout lands from 
fire ' be accepted by this town ? " A ma- 
jority vote of the legal voters present and 
voting at such meeting shall be required for 
the acceptance of this act; and upon such 
acceptance the provisions of section twenty- 
four of chapter thirty-two of the Revised 
Laws shall cease to apply to any town which 
has previously accepted that section. 

Fire Balloons. 

1910, 141. It shall be unlawful within 
any city or town in this commonwealth for 
any person to liberate or fly fire balloons of 
any description. Whoever violates this act 
shall be punished by a fine of not more than 
one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for 
not more than one month or by both such 
fine and imprisonment. 



25 



Close Season for Game in Times of 

Drouth. 

1909, 422, see. 1. Whenever, during an 
open season for the hunting of any kind of 
game in this state, it shall appear to the 
governor that by reason of extreme drouth 
the use of firearms in the forest is liable to 
cause forest fires, he may, by proclamation, 
suspend the open season and make it a close 
season for the shooting of birds and wild 
animals of every kind for such time as he 
may designate, and may prohibit the dis- 
charge of firearms in or near forest land 
during the said time. 

1909, 422, sec. 2. During the time desig- 
nated as above by the governor, all provi- 
sions of law relating to the close season shall 
be in force, and whoever violates any such 
provisions shall be subject to the penalties 
prescribed therefor. In case any person 
shall, during a close season proclaimed as 
aforesaid, discharge a firearm in or near 
forest land, or shoot any wild animal or bird, 
as to which there is no close season other- 
wise provided by law, he shall be subject to 
a fine of not more than one hundred dollars. 



26 



1909, 422, sec. 3. A proclamation issued 
under authority hereof shall be published in 
such newspapers of the state and posted in 
such places and in such manner as the gov- 
ernor may direct, under the charge and 
lirection of the state forester and the com- 
missioners on fisheries and game. 

V. 

Exemplary Damages for injuring Timber 
and. Special Liability of Railroads. 

R. L. 185, sec. 7. A person who without 
license wilfully cuts down, carries away, 
girdles or otherwise destroys any trees, tim- 
ber, wood or underwood on the land of an- 
other shall be liable to the owner in an 
action of tort for three times the amount of 
damages assessed therefor; but if it is found 
that the defendant had good reason to believe 
that the land on which the trespass was 
committed was his own or that he was other- 
wise lawfully authorized to do the acts com- 
plained of, he shall be liable for single 
damages only. 1 

1 Other sections of R. L. 185 provide exemplary dam- 
ages for certain acts of waste and trespass, but have no 
special reference to forest lands. 



27 



R. L. Ill, sec. 270. Every railroad cor- 
poration and street railway company shall 
be liable in damages to a person or corpora- 
tion whose buildings or other property may 
be injured by fire communicated by its 
locomotive engines, and shall have an in- 
surable interest in the property upon its 
route for which it may be so held liable, and 
may procure insurance thereon in its own 
behalf. If it is held liable in damages, it 
shall be entitled to the benefit of any insur- 
ance effected upon such property by the 
owner thereof, less the cost of premium and 
expense of recovery. The money received 
as insurance shall be deducted from the 
damages, if recovered before they are as- 
sessed; and if not so recovered, the policy 
of insurance shall be assigned to the cor- 
poration which is held liable in damages, and 
it may maintain an action thereon. 

VI. 

Land adjoining Railroads, and Powers and 
Duties of Railroads. 

1907, 431, sec. 1. Every corporation op- 
erating a steam railroad within this com- 
monwealth shall, subject to the approval of 



28 



the board of railroad commissioners, install 
and maintain a sparkarrester on every 
engine in its service in which wood, coke or 
coal is used as fuel, and shall, between the 
first day of April and the first day of 
December in each year, keep the full width 
of all of its locations over which such 
engines are operated, to a point two hun- 
dred feet distant from the centre line on each 
side thereof, clear of dead leaves, dead 
grass, dry bush or other inflammable ma- 
terial, and shall not at any time leave any 
deposit of fire, hot ashes or live coals upon 
its locations in the immediate vicinity of 
woodlands or grass lands, and shall post in 
stations and other conspicuous places within 
its location and right of way such notices 
and warning placards as are furnished to it 
for the purpose by the state forester: pro- 
vided, that nothing in this section shall be 
construed to prohibit any railroad corpora- 
tion from piling or keeping upon its location 
or right of way crossties or other material 
necessary for the maintenance and operation 
of its railroad. 

.1907, 431, sec. 2. Any railroad corpora- 
tion may, upon giving notice according to 






29 



the provisions of this section, enter upon 
unimproved land adjoining any location or 
right of way upon which it operates engines 
burning wood, coke or coal, and may there 
at its own expense and subject to the direc- 
tion of the forest warden, or the officer or 
board having his powers, in the city or town 
in which the land is situated, clear such land 
of dead leaves, dead grass and dead wood 
to a distance of one hundred feet from the 
tracks, without thereby becoming liable for 
trespass : provided, that no railroad corpora- 
tion shall, under the provisions of this sec- 
tion, do any acts on unimproved land out- 
side its location or right of way, unless it 
has within two months given fourteen days' 
notice in writing by mail or otherwise to the 
occupant of the land, and to the owner 
thereof, if he resides or has a usual place 
of business in the city or town in which it 
is situated, and if the land is unoccupied and 
the owner does not reside or have a usual 
place of business in the city or town, then, 
unless the railroad corporation has within 
two months published notice of its purpose 
once in three successive weeks in a news- 
paper published in the county in which the 



30 



land is situated, and unless it has within 
three days given at least twenty-four hours' 
notice to the forest warden [or the officer 
or board having his powers], 1 in the city or 
town in which the land is situated of the 
location of the land which it intends to enter 
under the provisions of this section, and of 
the time at which it intends to enter the 
same; and provided, further, that no notice 
hereby required shall be valid unless it sets 
forth the provisions of this section. 

1907, 431, sec. 3. Any engineer, con- 
ductor or other employee on a train who 
discovers a fire burning uncontrolled on 
lands adjacent to the tracks shall forthwith 
cause a fire signal to be sounded from the 
engine, which shall consist of one long and 
three short whistle blasts repeated several 
times, and shall notify the next sectionmen 
whom the train passes, and the next tele- 
graph station, of the existence and location 
of the fire. The provisions of this section 
shall not affect the authority conferred upon 
the board of railroad commissioners by the 

i Since the passage of chap. 475, Acts of 1907, the forest 
warden would be the officer designated by the bracketed 
• words. 



31 



provisions of section one hundred and forty- 
eight of Part II of chapter four hundred 
and sixty-three of the acts of the year nine- 
teen hundred and six. 

1907, 431, sec. 4. Sectionmen or other 
employees of a railroad corporation who re- 
ceive notice of the existence and location of 
a fire burning on land adjacent to the tracks 
shall forthwith proceed to the fire and shall 
use all reasonable efforts to extinguish it : 
provided, that they are not at the time em- 
ployed in labors immediately necessary to the 
safety of tracks or to the safety and con- 
venience of passengers and the public. 

1907, 431, sec. 5. Railroad corporations 
shall inform their employees as to their 
duties under this act and shall furnish them 
with the appropriate facilities for reporting 
and extinguishing such fires. 

1907, 431, sec. 6. Nothing in this act shall 
be construed to give any railroad corporation 
power to enter upon, or to interfere in the 
management or care of, any public park or 
reservation. 



32 



Railroad Liability for the Extinguish- 
ment of Forest Fires. 

1909, 394, sec. 1. Any railroad corpora- 
tion which, by its servants or agents, negli- 
gently, or in violation of law, sets fire to 
grass lands or forest lands shall be liable to 
any city or town in which such fire occurs, 
for the reasonable and lawful expense in- 
curred by such city or town in the extin- 
guishment of the fire. 

1909, 394, sec. 2. Cities and towns may 
recover sums to which they are entitled under 
the provisions of this act by an action of 
contract in the superior court. 

VII. 

Town Appropriations and Public Domains. 

R. L. 25, sec. 17. A town which accepts 
the provisions of this section, or has accepted 
the corresponding provisions of earlier laws, 
may appropriate money for the prevention 
of forest fires to an amount not exceeding 
one-tenth of one per cent of its valuation. 1 

R. L. 28, sec. 23. A town, by a vote of 

i See also sec. 25 on page 21. 



33 



two-thirds of the legal voters present and 
voting at a town meeting, or a city in which 
the city council consists of two branches, by 
a vote of two-thirds of the members of each 
branch, and a city in which there is a single 
legislative board, by a vote of two-thirds 
of the members thereof, present and voting 
thereon, may take or purchase land within 
their limits, which shall be a public domain, 
and may appropriate money and accept gifts 
of money and land therefor. Such public 
domain shall be devoted to the culture of 
forest trees, or to the preservation of the 
water supply of such city or town and the 
title thereto shall vest in the commonwealth 
for the benefit of the city or town in which 
it lies. 

R. L. 28, sec. 24. A description of the 
land taken sufficiently accurate for its iden- 
tification, shall within sixty days after such 
taking, be filed by such city or town in the 
registry of deeds for the county or district 
in which the land is situated and shall be 
recorded therein. Damages occasioned by 
such taking may be recovered as provided in 
the case of the taking of land for a high- 
way. 



34 



R. L. 28, sec. 25. The state board of agri- 
culture shall [act as a board of forestry, 
without pay, except for necessary travelling 
expenses, and shall] x have the supervision 
and management of all such public domains. 
It shall make regulations for their care and 
use, and for the planting and cultivating of 
trees therein, and shall appoint one or more 
keepers, who, under its direction, shall have 
charge of each public domain, enforce its 
regulations, perform such labor thereon as 
it requires; and who shall, within such pub- 
lic domain, have the power of constables and 
public officers in towns. 



Reimburse Certain Towns for Fire 
Apparatus. 

1910, 398, sec. 1. Every town in the com- 
monwealth with a valuation of one million 
five hundred thousand dollars or less which 
appropriates and expends money, with the 
approval of the state forester, for apparatus 
to be used in preventing or extinguishing 

i The words bracketed would appear to be superseded 
by the law establishing the office of State Forester. For 
further provisions as to establishment and management 
of domains see other sections of the act. 









35 



forest fires or for making protective belts 
or zones as a defence against forest fires, 
shall be entitled, upon the recommendation 
of the state forester, approved by the gov- 
ernor, to receive from the treasury of the 
commonwealth a sum equal to one half of 
the said expenditure, but no town shall re- 
ceive more than two hundred and fifty 
dollars. 

1910, 398, sec. 2. A sum not exceeding 
five thousand dollars in any one year may 
be expended in carrying out the provisions 
of this act. 

1910, 398, sec. 3. This act shall take effect 
upon its passage. 

Picking Berries and Flowers and Camp- 
ing and Picnicking during Certain 
Months in the Counties of Barn- 
stable and Plymouth. 

1910, 478, sec. 1. It shall be unlawful 
for any unnaturalized, foreign-born person 
to pick wild berries or flowers, or to camp 
or picnic upon any land of which he is not 
the owner, within the counties of Barnstable 
and Plymouth, between the first day of April 
and the first day of December, without first 



36 



obtaining written permission so to do from 
the owner or owners of the land. The said 
written permit shall not be transferable, 
and shall be exhibited upon demand to the 
forest warden, or his deputies, of the town 
wherein the land is located, or upon demand 
of any sheriff, constable, police officer or 
other officer authorized to arrest for crime. 
Failure or refusal to produce said permit 
upon such demand shall be prima facie evi- 
dence of a violation of this act, and any 
forest warden or any duly authorized deputy 
forest warden, police officer, sheriff or other 
officer authorized to arrest for crime, may 
arrest without warrant any person who fails 
or refuses to display for inspection the said 
permit upon the demand of any of the offi- 
cials named in this act. 

1910, 478, sec. 2. Whoever violates any 
provision of this act shall be punished by 
a fine of not more than fifty dollars, or by 
imprisonment for not more than thirty days, 
or by both such fine and imprisonment. 



VIII. 

Keforestation Act. 
190S, 478, as amended, 1909, 214, sec. 1. 
For the purpose of experiment and illustra- 
tion in forest management and for the pur- 
poses specified in section seven of this act, 
the sum of five thousand dollars may be ex- 
pended in the year nineteen hundred and 
eight, and the sum of ten thousand dollars 
annually thereafter, by the state forester, 
with the advice and consent of the governor 
and council, in purchasing lands situated 
within the commonwealth and adapted to 
forest production. The price of such land 
shall not exceed in any instance five dollars 
per acre, nor shall more than eighty^ acres 
be acquired in any one tract in any one year, 
except that a greater area may so be ac- 
quired if the land purchased directly affects 
a source or tributary of water supply in any 
city or town of the commonwealth. All 
lands acquired under the provisions of this 
act shall be conveyed to the commonwealth, 
and no lands shall be paid for nor shall any 
moneys be expended in improvements thereon 
until all instruments of conveyance and the 



38 



title to be transferred thereby have been ap- 
proved by the attorney-general and until 
such instruments have been executed and re- 
corded. 

1908, 478, sec. 2. The owners of land 
purchased under this act, or their heirs and 
assigns, may repurchase the land from the 
commonwealth at any time within ten years 
after the purchase by the commonwealth, 
upon paying the price originally paid by the 
commonwealth, together with the amount ex- 
pended in improvements and maintenance, 
with interest at the rate of four per cent per 
annum on the purchase price. The state 
forester, with the approval of the governor 
and council, may execute in behalf of the 
commonwealth such deeds of reconveyance 
as may be necessary under this section : pro- 
vided, however, that there shall be included 
in such deeds a restriction requiring that 
trees cut from such property shall not be 
less than eight inches in diameter at the butt. 

1908, 478, sec. 3. The state forester may 
in his discretion, but subject to the approval 
of the deed and title by the attorney-general 
as provided in section one, accept on behalf 
of the commonwealth srifts of land to be held 



39 



and managed for the purpose hereinbefore 
expressed. A donor of such land may re- 
serve the right to buy back the land in 
accordance with the provisions of section 
two, but in the absence of a provision to that 
effect in his deed of gift he shall not have 
such right. 

1908, 478, sec. 4. Land acquired under 
the provisions of this act shall be under the 
control and management of the state for- 
ester, who may, subject to the approval of 
the governor and council, cut and sell trees, 
wood and other produce therefrom. 

190S, 478, sec. 5. All moneys received by 
or payable to the commonwealth or any one 
acting on its behalf under the provisions of 
this act shall be paid into the treasury of the 
commonwealth. 

1908, 478, sec. 6. Land acquired under 
the provisions of this act and subsequently 
reeonveyed under the provisions of sections 
two or three shall not be exempt from taxa- 
tion on account of any plantation of trees 
set out or planted while it was held by the 
commonwealth. 

1908, 478, sec. 7. For the purpose of as- 
sisting in reforestation a portion, not ex- 




40 



ceeding twenty per cent of the money 
authorized by this act to be expended may 
be used by the state forester for the dis- 
tribution at not less than cost of seeds and 
seedlings to land owners who are citizens of 
the commonwealth, under such conditions 
and restrictions as the state forester, subject 
to the approval of the governor and council, 
may deem advisable. 

1908, 478, sec. 8. The state forester shall 
replant or otherwise manage all land ac- 
quired by the commonwealth and held by it 
under the provisions of this act, in such 
manner as will, in his judgment, produce the 
best forest growth both as to practical for- 
estry results and protection of water sup- 
plies. 

1908, 478, sec. 9. All acts and parts of 
acts inconsistent herewith are hereby re- 
pealed. 

1908, 478, sec. 10. This act shall take 
effect upon its passage. 

State Forester may accept Bequests. 

1910, 153, sec. 1. The state forester, with 
the approval of the governor and council, 
is hereby authorized to accept, on behalf of 



41 



the commonwealth, bequests or gifts to be 
used for the purpose of advancing the for- 
estry interests of the commonwealth, under 
the direction of the governor and council, in 
such manner as to carry out the terms of 
the bequest or gift. 

1910, 153, sec. 2. This act shall take effect 
upon its passage. 

Certain Lands exempt from Taxation. 

1909, 187, sec. 1. Land which does not 
exceed in value ten dollars an acre, if well 
stocked with thrifty white pine seedlings that 
have attained an average height of not less 
than fifteen inches, upon satisfactory proof 
of its condition by the owner to the assessors, 
shall be exempt from taxation for a period 
of ten years thereafter: provided, that if 
any trees of commercial value, except such 
as are reasonably removed for the improve- 
ment of the white pine growth, are cut or 
removed from the said land, the exemption 
herein provided for shall cease. 

Plantations exempt from Taxation. 

R. L. 12, sec. 6, as amended, 1908, 120. 
Land upon which pines, chestnuts, larches, 



42 






spruces, hemlocks, walnuts, hickories, Ameri- 
can and large-toothed poplars, yellow and 
paper birches, beeches, maples, basswoods, 
or ash timber trees, or others when approved 
by the state forester, have been set out or 
planted to the number of not less than six 
hundred per acre, and which by such setting 
out or planting has become evenly stocked 
with such trees to the number of not less 
than twelve hundred per acre, including in 
such number the trees growing naturally 
upon said land, shall be exempt from taxa- 
tion for a period of ten years after the said 
trees have grown in height two feet on the 
average, upon satisfactory proof by the 
owners to the assessors of the foregoing 
facts: provided, that at the time when the 
trees are planted or set out the said land is 
not woodland or sproutland, or land con- 
taining more than six hundred standing trees 
to the acre, and does not exceed in value 
ten dollars per acre; and provided, further, 
that such exemption shall not extend beyond 
the time during which said land is devoted 
exclusively to the growth of said trees. 



43 



IX. 

Punishable Offences against Forest Lands. 

R. L. 208, sec. 5. Whoever wilfully and 
maliciously burns or otherwise destroys or 
injures a pile or parcel of wood, boards, 
timber or other lumber, or any fence, bars 
or gate, or a stack of grain, hay or other 
vegetable product, or any vegetable product 
severed from the soil and not stacked, or 
any standing tree, grain, grass or other 
standing product of the soil, or the soil it- 
self, of another, shall be punished by im- 
prisonment in the state prison for not more 
than five years, or by a fine of not more 
than five hundred dollars and imprisonment 
in jail for not more than one year. 

R. L. 208, sec. 7. Whoever by wantonly 
or recklessly setting fire to any material 
causes injury to, or the destruction of, any 
growing or standing wood of another shall 
be punished by a fine of not more than one 
hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not 
more than six months. 

R. L. 208, sec. 8. Whoever wilfully or 
without reasonable care sets fire upon land 
of another whereby the property of another 



44 



is injured, or whoever negligently or wil- 
fully suffers any fire upon his own land to 
extend beyond the limits thereof, whereby 
the woods or property of another are in- 
jured, shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than two hundred and fifty dollars. 

R. L. 208, sec. 9. Whoever in a town 
which accepts the provisions of this section, 
or has accepted the corresponding provisions 
of earlier laws, sets a fire on land which is 
not owned or controlled by him and before 
leaving the same neglects to entirely ex- 
tinguish such fire, or whoever wilfully or 
negligently suffers a fire upon his own land 
to escape beyond the limits thereof to the 
injury of another, shall be punished by a 
fine of not more than one hundred dollars, 
or by imprisonment in jail for not more 
than one month, or by both such fine and 
imprisonment; and shall also be liable for 
all damages caused thereby. Such fine shall 
be equally divided between the complainant 
and the town. 

R. L. 208, sec. 99, as amended, 1904, 444, 
sec. 1. Whoever wilfully cuts down or de- 
stroys timber or wood standing or growing 
on the land of another, or carries away any 



45 



kind of timber or wood cut down or lying 
on such land, or digs up or carries away 
stone, ore, gravel, clay, sand, turf or mould 
from such land, or roots, nuts, berries, 
grapes or fruit of any kind or any plant 
there being, or cuts down or carries away 
sedge, grass, hay or any kind of corn, stand- 
ing, growing or being on such land, or cuts 
or takes therefrom any ferns, flowers or 
shrubs, or carries away from a wharf or 
landing place any goods in which he has no 
interest or property, without the license of 
the owner thereof, shall be punished by im- 
prisonment for not more than six months or 
by a fine of not more than five hundred dol- 
lars, and if the offence is committed on the 
Lord's day or in disguise or secretly in the 
night time the imprisonment shall not be 
less than five days nor the fine less than five 
dollars. 

R. L. 208, sec. 100. Whoever wilfully 
and maliciously cuts down, destroys or in- 
jures a tree which is not his own, standing 
for any useful purpose, or whoever wilfully 
and maliciously breaks glass in a building 
which is not his own, or whoever wilfully 
and maliciously breaks down, injures, mars 



46 



or defaces a fence belonging to or enclosing 
land which is not his own, or wilfully and 
maliciously throws down or opens a gate, 
bars or fence, and leaves the same down or 
open, or maliciously and injuriously severs 
from the freehold of another any produce 
thereof or anything attached thereto, shall 
be punished by imprisonment for not more 
than six months or by a fine of not more 
than five hundred dollars. 

R. L. 208, sec. 106. Whoever wilfully and 
maliciously, and without permission of the 
owner or person having control thereof, 
enters upon the orchard, garden or other 
improved land 1 of another, with intent to 
cut, take, carry away, destroy or injure the 
trees, grain, grass, hay, fruit or vegetables 
there growing or being, shall be punished by 
imprisonment for not more than six months 
or by a fine of not more than five hundred 
dollars; and if the offence is committed on 
the Lord's day or in disguise or secretly in 
the night time the imprisonment shall not 
be less than five days nor the fine less than 
five dollars. 

1 It is believed that artificial plantations of forest trees 
are within the meaning of this section. 



47 



R. L. 208, sec. 121. Whoever is discovered 
in the act of wilfully injuring a fruit or 
forest tree or of committing any kiud of 
malicious mischief on the Lord's day may 
be arrested without a warrant by a sheriff, 
deputy sheriff, constable, watchman, police 
officer or other person, and detained in jail 
or otherwise until a complaint can be made 
against him for the offence and he be taken 
upon a warrant issued upon such complaint ; 
but such detention without warrant shall not 
continue more than twenty-four hours. 

1907, 299. The commissioners on fisheries 
and game and their duly authorized deputies 
may arrest without a warrant any person 
found in the act of unlawfully setting a fire. 
Said commissioners and their deputies may 
require assistance according to the provisions 
of section twenty of chapter thirty-two of 
the Revised Laws, and they shall take pre- 
cautions to prevent the progress of forest 
fires, or the improper kindling thereof, and 
upon the discovery of any such fire shall im- 
mediately summon the necessary assistance, 
and notify the forest fireward of the town. 



48 



X. 

Forestry Publications. 
1908, 121. Resolved, That such publica- 
tions of the state forester as shall be desig- 
nated by the governor and council may be 
sold by the state forester at a price not less 
than the cost thereof; and additional copies 
may be printed for sale at the discretion of 
the governor and council, the expense thereof 
to be paid from the receipts from such sales. 
Any amounts received from such sales shall 
be paid into the treasury of the common- 
wealth. 

XI. 

Gypsy and Brown Tail Moth Law. 

Acts of 1905, Chapter 381, as amended by Acts 
of 1906, Chapter 268, Acts of 1907, Chapter 
521, Acts of 1908, Chapter 591, and Acts of 
1910, Chapter 150. 

An Act to provide for Suppressing the 
Gypsy and Brown Tail Moths. 

Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 

Section 1. For the purposes of this act 
the pupae, nests, eggs and caterpillars of the 
gypsy and brown tail moths and said moths 



49 



are hereby declared public nuisances, and 
their suppression is authorized and required; 
but no owner or occupant of an estate in- 
fested by such nuisance shall by reason 
thereof be liable to an action, civil or crim- 
inal, except to the extent and in the manner 
and form herein set forth. 

Section 2. 1 The governor, by and with 
the consent of the council, shall appoint a 
superintendent for suppressing the gypsy 
and brown tail moths and shall determine 
his salary. The governor may, with the con- 
sent of the council, remove said superin- 
tendent at any time for such cause as he 
shall deem sufficient. In case of the death, 
removal or resignation of the superintendent 
the governor shall forthwith appoint a suc- 
cessor. On or before the third Wednesday 
in January in each year the superintendent 
shall make a report of his proceedings to 
the general court, which shall be a public 
document and shall be printed. Said report 
shall separate so far as is practicable the 

i The office of superintendent was abolished by chap- 
ter 263, Acts of 1909, and the State Forester placed in 
charge of the work of suppressing the gypsy and brown 
tail moths. See chapter 263, Acts of 1909, printed on 
page 64. 



50 



expenditures on work against the gypsy 
moth from those on work against the brown 
tail moth in each city and town. 

Section 3. [As amended by section 1, 
chapter 268, Acts of 1906, and by section 
1, chapter 591, Acts of 1908.] The said 
superintendent shall act for the common- 
wealth in suppressing said moths as public 
nuisances, in accordance with the provisions 
of this act. For this purpose he shall estab- 
lish an office and keep a record of his doings 
and of his receipts and expenditures, and 
may, subject to the approval of the governor, 
make rules and regulations governing all 
operations by cities, towns or individuals 
under this act. He may employ such clerks, 
assistants and agents, including expert ad- 
visers and inspectors, as he may deem nec- 
essary and as shall be approved by the 
governor. He may make contracts on behalf 
of the commonwealth; may act in co-opera- 
tion with any person, persons, corporation 
or corporations, including other states, the 
United States or foreign governments; may 
conduct investigations and accumulate and 
distribute information concerning said moths ; 
may devise, use and require all other lawful 



51 



means of suppressing or preventing said 
moths; may lease real estate when he deems 
it necessary, and, with the approval of the 
board in charge, may use any real or per- 
sonal property of the commonwealth; may 
at all times enter upon the land of the com- 
monwealth or of a municipality, corporation, 
or other owner or owners, and may use all 
reasonable means in carrying out the pur- 
poses of this act; and, in the undertakings 
aforesaid, may, in accordance with the pro- 
visions of this act, expend the funds appro- 
priated or donated therefor; but no 
expenditure shall be made or liability in- 
curred in excess of such appropriations and 
donations. 

The clerks, assistants and agents employed 
by said superintendent may at all times, in 
carrying out the purposes of this act, enter 
upon the land of the commonwealth or of 
a municipality, corporation or other owner 
or owners. 

Section 4. [As amended by section 2, 
chapter 268, Acts of 1906; by section 1, 
chapter 521, Acts of 1907; and by section 
1, chapter 150, Acts of 1910.] The mayor 
and aldermen in cities and the selectmen in 



52 



towns shall annually in the month of March 
or April appoint a local superintendent for 
the suppression of the gypsy and brown tail 
moths who shall under the advice and general 
direction of the state forester destroy the 
eggs, caterpillars, pupaB and nests of the 
gypsy and brown tail moths within their 
limits, except in parks and other property 
under the control of the commonwealth, and 
except in private property, save as otherwise 
provided herein. The said appointments of 
local superintendents shall not take effect un- 
less approved by the state forester, and when 
so approved, notice of the appointment shall 
be given by the mayor and aldermen or se- 
lectmen to the person so appointed. When 
any city or town shall have expended within 
its limits city or town funds to an amount 
in excess of five thousand dollars in any one 
fiscal year, in suppressing gypsy or brown 
tail moths, the commonwealth shall reimburse 
such city or town to the extent of fifty per 
cent of such excess above said five thousand 
dollars. 

Cities or towns, where one twenty-fifth of 
one per cent of the assessed valuation of real 
and personal property is less than five thou- 



53 



sand dollars, and where the assessed valua- 
tion of real and personal property is greater 
than six million dollars, shall be reimbursed 
by the commonwealth to the extent of eighty 
per cent of the amount expended by such 
cities or towns of city or town funds in sup- 
pressing the gypsy and brown tail moths in 
any one fiscal year, in excess of said one 
twenty-fifth of one per cent. 

In the case of towns where the assessed 
valuation of real and personal property is 
less than six million dollars, after they have 
expended in any one fiscal year town funds 
to an amount equal to one twenty-fifth of 
one per cent of their assessed valuation of 
real and personal property, the common- 
wealth shall expend within the limits of such 
towns, for the purpose of suppressing the 
gypsy and brown tail moths, such an amount 
in addition as the superintendent with the 
advice and consent of the governor shall 
recommend. 

The commonwealth shall reimburse cities 
and towns every sixty days according to the 
provisions of this act. 

No city or town shall be entitled to any 
reimbursement from the commonwealth until 



54 



it has submitted to the auditor of the com- 
monwealth itemized accounts and vouchers 
showing the definite amount expended by 
it for the purpose of this act ; nor shall any 
money be paid out of the treasury of the 
commonwealth to cities or towns, pursuant 
to the provisions of this act, until said 
vouchers and accounts have been approved 
by the superintendent and the auditor of the 
commonwealth. 

For the purposes of this section, the valu- 
ation of the previous year shall be taken as 
a basis. The fiscal year for nineteen hun- 
dred and seven and for all succeeding years 
shall close on the thirtieth day of November. 

Section 5. [As amended by section 3, 
chapter 268, Acts of 1906, and by section 2, 
chapter 521, Acts of 1907.] When, in the 
opinion of the superintendent, any city or 
town is not expending a sufficient amount 
for the abatement of said nuisance, or is 
not conducting the necessary work in a 
proper manner, then the superintendent 
shall, with the advice and consent of the 
governor, order such city or town to expend 
such an amount as the superintendent shall 
deem necessary, and in accordance with such 



55 



methods as the superintendent, with the con- 
sent of the governor, shall prescribe: pro- 
vided, that no city or town where the 
assessed valuation of real and personal prop- 
erty exceeds six million dollars shall be 
required to expend, exclusive of any reim- 
bursement received from the commonwealth, 
during any one full year more than one fif- 
teenth of one per cent of such valuation, 
and that no town where the assessed valu- 
ation of real and personal property is less 
than six million dollars shall be required to 
expend, exclusive of any reimbursement re- 
ceived from the commonwealth, during any 
one full year more than one twenty-fifth of 
one per cent of such valuation. For the 
purposes of this section the valuation of each 
previous year shall be used. 

Any city or town failing to comply with 
the directions of the said superintendent in 
the performance of said work within the 
date specified by him shall pay a fine of one 
hundred dollars a day for failure so to do; 
said fine to be collected by information 
brought by the attorney-general in the su- 
preme judicial court for Suffolk county. 

In case of emergency, or where there is 



56 



great or immediate danger of the increase 
or spread of the moths due to the neglect 
of any city or town to comply with the terms 
of this act, the superintendent, with the con- 
sent of the governor, may initiate or continue 
the work of suppressing the moths within 
the limits of such city or town for such a 
period as the superintendent may deem nec- 
essary. The cost of such work, including 
that done on private estates, less any sum 
due from the state by way of reimburse- 
ments on account of said work, shall be 
certified by the superintendent to the treas- 
urer of the commonwealth, and be collected 
by him as an additional state tax upon the 
city or town so failing to comply with the 
requirements of the law. The superintendent 
may also in case of emergency, subject to 
the approval of the governor, carry on 
wholly or in part such operations as may be 
necessary to check the spreading of the 
gypsy or brown tail moths in parks not 
under the control of the commonwealth, and 
in cemeteries, woodlands and other places 
of public resort. The amount to be so ex- 
pended in any one year shall not exceed ten 
per cent of the appropriations made for the 



57 



year by the state for the purpose of sup- 
pressing said moths. 

Section 6. [As amended by section 4, 
chapter 268, Acts of 1906, and by section 
2, chapter 591, Acts of 1908.] The mayor 
of every city and the selectmen of every 
town shall, on or before the first day of 
November in each year, and at such other 
times as he or they shall see fit, or as the 
state superintendent may order, cause a 
notice to be sent to the owner or owners, so 
far as can be ascertained, of every parcel 
of land therein which is infested with said 
moths; or, if such notification appears to be 
impracticable, then by posting such notice 
on said parcels of land, requiring that the 
eggs, caterpillars, pupae and nests of said 
moths shall be destroyed within a time spec- 
ified in the notice. 

When, in the opinion of the mayor or 
selectmen, the cost of destroying such eggs, 
caterpillars, pupae and nests on lands con- 
tiguous and held under one ownership in a 
city or town shall exceed one half of one 
per cent of the assessed value of said lands, 
then a part of said premises on which said 
eggs, caterpillars, pupae or nests shall be de- 



58 



stroyed may be designated in such notice, 
and such requirement shall not apply to the 
remainder of said premises. The mayor or 
selectmen may designate the manner in which 
such work shall be done, but all work done 
under this section shall be subject to the ap- 
proval of the state superintendent. 

If the owner or owners shall fail to de- 
stroy such eggs, caterpillars, pupae or nests 
in accordance with the requirements of the 
said notice, then the city or town, acting by 
the public officer or board of such city or 
town designated or appointed as aforesaid, 
shall, subject to the approval of the said 
superintendent, destroy the same, and the 
amount actually expended thereon, not ex- 
ceeding one half of one per cent of the 
assessed valuation of said lands, as hereto- 
fore specified in this section, shall be as- 
sessed upon the said lands; and such an 
amount in addition as shall be required shall 
be apportioned between the city or town and 
the commonwealth in accordance with the 
provisions of section four of this act. The 
amounts to be assessed upon private estates 
as herein provided shall be assessed and col- 
lected, and shall be a lien on said estates, 



59 



in the same manner and with the same effect 
as is provided in the ease of assessments for 
street watering. 

The public officer or board of any city or 
town designated or appointed as aforesaid, 
or any agent or employee of such public 
officer or board, may at any time enter upon 
any parcel of land within the limits of such 
city or town for the purpose of determining 
whether or not such parcel of land is in- 
fested with said moths, or the extent to 
which such parcel of land is so infested. 

Section 7. [As amended by section 5, 
chapter 268, Acts of 1906, and by section 
3, chapter 521, Acts of 1907.] If, in the 
opinion of the assessors of a city or town, 
any land therein has received, oy reason of 
the abatement of said nuisances thereon by 
said superintendent or by said city or town, 
a special benefit beyond the general advan- 
tage to all land in the city or town, then 
the said assessors shall determine the value 
of such special benefit and shall assess the 
amount thereof upon said land: provided, 
that no such assessment on lands contiguous 
and held under one ownership shall exceed 
one half of one per cent of the assessed 



60 



valuation of said lands; and provided, that 
the owner or owners shall have deducted 
from such assessment the amount paid and 
expended by them during the twelve months 
last preceding the date of such assessment 
toward abating the said nuisances on said 
lands, if, in the opinion of the assessors, 
such amount has been expended in good 
faith. Such assessment shall be a lien upon 
the land for three years from the first day 
of January next after the assessment has 
been made, and shall be collected under a 
warrant of the assessors to the collector of 
taxes of such city or town, in the manner 
and upon the terms and conditions and in 
the exercise of the powers and duties, so far 
as they may be applicable, prescribed by 
chapter thirteen of the Revised Laws relative 
to the collection of taxes. 

Real estate sold hereunder may be re- 
deemed within the time, in the manner, and 
under the provisions of law, so far as they 
may be applicable, set forth in chapter thir- 
teen of the Revised Laws for the redemption 
of land sold for taxes. 

A person aggrieved by such assessment 
may appeal to the superior court for the 



61 



county in which the land lies, by entering 
a complaint in said court within thirty days 
after he has had actual notice of the assess- 
ment, which complaint shall be determined 
as other causes by the court without a 
jury. The complaint shall be heard at the 
first sitting of said court for trials without 
a jury after its entry; but the court may 
allow further time, or may advance the case 
for speedy trial, or may appoint an auditor 
as in other cases. The court may revise the 
assessment, may allow the recovery back of 
an amount wrongfully assessed which has 
been paid, may set aside, in a suit begun 
within three years from the date thereof, a 
collector's sale made under an erroneous 
assessment, may award costs to either party 
and may render such judgment as justice 
and equity require. 

If, in the opinion of the assessors, the 
owner of an estate upon which an assess- 
ment as aforesaid has been made is, by rea- 
son of age, infirmity or poverty unable to 
pay the assessment, they may upon appli- 
cation abate the same. Every city or town 
in rendering an account to the state auditor 
as provided for in section four of this act 



62 






shall deduct from such amount as it has 
expended the total amount it has assessed 
for work performed under section six of 
this act during" the term covered by the ac- 
count : provided, such work was performed 
under such conditions as require reimburse- 
ment in whole or in part by the state. 

Section 8. To meet the expenses in- 
curred under authority of this act, there 
shall be allowed and paid out of the treasury 
of the commonwealth, during the period up 
to and including" May first, nineteen hundred 
and seven, the sum of three hundred thou- 
sand dollars. Of this amount seventy-five 
thousand dollars may be expended during the 
calendar year nineteen hundred and five; 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and 
any unexpended balance of the previous 
year, may be expended during the calendar 
year nineteen hundred and six; and seventy- 
five thousand dollars, and any unexpended 
balance of the previous years, may be ex- 
pended during the calendar year nineteen 
hundred and seven, up to and including 
May first. 

Section 9. An additional sum of ten 



63 



thousand dollars in each of the years nine- 
teen hundred and five, nineteen hundred and 
six and nineteen hundred and seven may, 
in the discretion of the state superintendent, 
be expended by him for experimenting with 
parasites or natural enemies for destroying 
said moths, and any unexpended balance of 
any year may be expended in the subsequent 
years. 

Section 10. Chapter two hundred and 
ten of the acts of the year eighteen hundred 
and ninety-one and sections one and two 
of chapter five hundred and forty-four of 
the acts of the year eighteen hundred and 
ninety-eight and section two of chapter fifty- 
seven of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
dred and two, are hereby repealed. 

Section 11. [As amended by section 6, 
chapter 268, Acts of 1906.] A person who 
wilfully resists or obstructs the superin- 
tendent or an official of a city or town, or a 
servant or agent duly employed by said 
superintendent or by any of said officials, 
while lawfully engaged in the execution of 
the purposes of this act, or who knowingly 
fails to comply with any of the rules or 



64 



regulations issued by said superintendent, 
shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty-five 
dollars for each offence. 

Section 12. [As amended by section 4, 
chapter 521, Acts of 1907.] Valuations of 
real and personal property of each previous 
year shall govern the provisions of this act. 

Section 13. This act shall take effect 
upon its passage. 

Acts of 1909, Chapter 263. 

An Act to provide for consolidating the 
Office of Superintendent for sup- 
pressing the Gypsy and Brown Tail 
Moths and the Department of the 
State Forester. 

Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 

Section 1. Section one of chapter four 
hundred and nine of the acts of the year 
nineteen hundred and four, as amended by 
section one of chapter four hundred and 
seventy-three of the acts of the year nineteen 
hundred and seven, is hereby further 
amended by striking out the said section and 
inserting in place thereof the following : — 
Section 1. The governor, with the consent 



65 



of the council, shall appoint an officer to 
be known as the state forester, and shall de- 
termine his salary. He shall be a trained 
forester who has had a technical education. 
He shall be ex officio a member of the state 
board of agriculture. He shall act for the 
commonwealth in suppressing the gypsy and 
brown tail moths as public nuisances. The 
governor may, with the consent of the coun- 
cil, remove the state forester at any time for 
such cause as he shall deem sufficient. In 
case of the death, removal or resignation of 
the state forester the governor shall forth- 
with appoint a successor. 

Section 2. The office of superintendent 
for suppressing the gypsy and brown tail 
moths is hereby abolished. All the powers, 
rights, duties and liabilities of the said 
superintendent are hereby transferred to 
the state forester. No existing contracts, 
proceedings or liabilities shall be affected 
hereby, but the state forester shall in all re- 
spects and for all purposes be the lawful 
successor of the superintendent for sup- 
pressing the gypsy and brown tail moths. 

Section 3. This act shall take effect upon 
its passage. 



66 



Acts of 1909, Chapter 452. 

An Act to provide for the Suppression 
of the Gypsy and Brown Tail Moths. 

Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 

Section 1. The state forester is hereby 
authorized to expend for the suppression 
of the gypsy and brown tail moths, and for 
expenses incidental thereto, the sum of one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually 
for three years, beginning with the year 
nineteen hundred and ten; and if any part 
of the said one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars remains unexpended at the close of 
any year the balance may be expended in 
the following year. 

Section 2. This act shall take effect upon 
its passage. 

Transportation of Injurious Insects. 

R. L. 208, sec. 108. Whoever knowingly 
brings the insects which are known as the 
ocneria dispar or gypsy moth or as the 
brown tail moth, or their nests or eggs, into 
this commonwealth, or whoever knowingly 
transports said insects or their eggs or nests 



67 



from one city or town to another city or 
town in the commonwealth, except when en- 
gaged in, and for the purpose of, destroying 
them, shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than two hundred dollars, or by im- 
prisonment for not more than sixty days, 
or by both such fine and imprisonment. 



